Daniil Medvedev has won his first match since being disqualified at the China Open for hitting a spectator in the eye with a ball he had hit into the stands.
Medvedev beat Jan-Lennard Struff 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in a second-round match on Saturday at the Shanghai Masters, an ATP 1000 event. The win gives Medvedev a 10-2 career edge over Struff.
Disqualification and apology
Medvedev was disqualified during his semifinal loss on Monday to Novak Djokovic in Beijing. The Russian had hit the ball into the stands and struck the spectator in the eye with it. He apologised after the incident, saying it was an accident.
The disqualification cost him US$285,000 in prize money, the amount he would have earned for reaching the semifinals in Beijing.
Shanghai draw
It was the fifth-seeded Medvedev’s first match since the disqualification. The 96-player Shanghai field gives the top 32 seeds first-round byes.
In other early second-round matches on Saturday, fourth-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime beat Camilo Ugo Carabelli 4-6, 7-6 (1), 7-5.
Second-seeded Carlos Alcaraz, who won last week’s Japan Open, was scheduled to play Juan Manuel Cerundolo in a night match in Shanghai.
Sinner absent
No. 1 Jannik Sinner withdrew from Shanghai this week after announcing he was taking the rest of 2026 off due to a right knee injury.